welcome back. it's time to talk about what we learned today. let's start with joe conason. joe, what did you learn? >> i think we learned that the nra is even crazier than you think they are. >> that is quite a lesson. what did you learn, donny deutsch? >> two things. my good friend, hoda kotb has a great new book out, and mike uses burt's bees to soften his hands. i have very, very dry -- >> no, no, no. what would you recommend for that? >> joe, stop this madness! >> they're very dry. would you recommend the same lotion you use. >> i would suggest you take a shower. >> nice shoes, though. >> do you actually wax your legs, donny? >> no, but they're very dry. mike and i have to talk about that. >> mike, what did you learn today? >> i learned so much i can't even tell you about it on here, joe. one of the things i did learn, what joe conason pointed out, is that the nra gives a whole new

meaning to the word fringe. it is now at the top of the house become a fringe group. >> all right. well, mike, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> if it's way too early, it's time for "morning joe." but right now it's time for chuck todd and "the daily rundown." chuck? >> thank you, boss. comprehensive approach. that's how the white house is describing the proposals that president obama will offer this morning to reduce gun violence across the country. but how much change can happen without the support from congress? chuck hagel's bid to run the pentagon appears to be gaining steam with key democrats now giving him a thumbs up. this morning, we'll talk to one of his biggest advocates on the hill, rhode island's jack reed. and some must-see tv. bill clinton kicks the door wide open for a hillary clinton campaign in 2016 and he makes a direct appeal, saying her health is not an issue and that he'll support whatever she decides. good morning from washington. it's wednesday, january 16th,

2013. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. and it begins with guns. today the president will unveil what one gun control activist characterized nbc news as the most sweeping gun control measures proposed since right after the assassinations of bobby kennedy and mlk back in 1968. the president is going bold, fulfilling a promise he made one month ago in newtown, connecticut. >> are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage? that the politics are too hard? >> the white house thinks it's better to go for broke than to lose doing something more minimalist. the president's proposals will include a combination of plans he'll ask congress to consider, but also a number of actions he can take without congress. sources familiar with the president's plan tell nbc news,

it will feature significant reforms that he wants congress to pass, including universal background checks on gun buyers anywhere, that includes gun shows, a crackdown on gun trafficking, which would impose harsher penalties on gun sellers that fail to perform background checks, targeting those folks who sell multiple guns to potential felons. a ban on high-capacity magazines, those carrying more than ten rounds. and a call to renew the assault weapons ban. legislation to deal with each one of those has already been introduced in the senate by the following folks, chuck schumer, kristen jill brant, lautenberg, and dianne feinstein. those policies and especially the ban will spark a fight in washington. the nra is out with a web video this morning going after the president and his daughter, of sorts, on a proposal that the president will not be endorsing today, the idea of armed security at every school in

america. >> are the president's kids more important than yours? then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? >> now, the president is going to call for more funding for security at schools, but specifically ruling out the idea of arming that security at schools. the white house is signaling it's ready for this big fight. it's ramping up pressure with an elaborate rollout today. it includes an audience of children from around the country who wrote the president letters about gun violence after newtown. the white house has released some of those letters late tuesday. 8-year-old grant wrote to the president, "it's a free country, but i recommend there needs to be a limit with guns. please don't let people own machine guns or other powerful guns like that." grant is one of the children who will be at the president's event today along with their parents. it's been nearly 20 years since a serious attempt to put new

restrictions on gun ownership. while president clinton was successful in getting an assault weapons ban passed in 1994, clinton himself recalled how democratic leaders on capitol hill feared that that ban would cost them control of congress. this is what he wrote in his book after his presidency. "if we made them walk the plank, many democrats who voted for it would not survive the election in november." well, those fears that democratic leaders had back then were realizeized in november. this time, democratic leaders do plan to proceed a little more carefully. senate majority leader harry reid has already told his hometown pbs station that he doesn't plan to go with what he called gyrations to pass any legislation, make senators vote for any legislation which can't get through the republican-controlled house. and guess what, folks, the house is going to be a challenge. >> people in kansas are not looking for new laws out of washington. they're looking for more involvement in their communities, and their families at the state level. >> these gun control measures

that have been reported in the news are extreme and they're antithetical to the spirit of liberty. >> we want all tools available to use, including the impeachment. he's even using children. it reminds me of saddam hussein when he used kids. >> how the white house and how democrats on capitol hill pushing the various pieces of legislation, what do they emphasize. we can tell you this, the one they know is going to be the hardest is the assault weapons ban. the one the president is going to put the most effort on is the universal background checks. last night, the house approved $50 billion in aid to help states rebuild after hurricane sandy. that was not news. we expected them to do that. the news, though, was how this bill passed. it passed with a majority of democratic votes in the house. the sandy aid package passed 241 to 180, which is 49 republicans gaining 192 democrats to vote in favor of it. it marks the second time now that house speaker john boehner has broken his own rule, the boehner rule, model on the

hastert rule. said the speaker would not bring any bill to the floor for a vote that does not have the support of a majority of his conference, a majority of the majority, it's known as. but last night, just about 20% of the republican conference voted for the bill. the vote split the leadership, majority leader eric cantor, majority whip mccarthy voted for the bill. boehner first broke his rule on new year's day when he allowed a vote to avert the fiscal cliff on taxes. apparently there's an addendum to the boehner rule. the majority of the majority, unless the country is on the verge of a tax crisis, or chris christie has access the to a megaphone. christie made sure this week that republicans knew he would use it. >> and i'll say again, new jersey does not expect anything more than what was done for louisiana and alabama and mississippi and if they want to

make new rules about disasters, they picked the wrong state to make the new rules with. >> and yesterday, new york congressman peter king, who berated boehner when he failed to bring the bill up at the end of the last congress, ignored the divisions within his party, saying time for recriminations is over. >> i'm proud to stand here today with all of us united. now, maybe your divisions to vote, but all of us are committed to getting this done. i want to thank the chairman of the rules committee, mr. sessions, for the great job they've done in bringing it here, with a fair rule, and allowing for an up and down vote. >> one more thing that's significant, supporters of the sandy bill beat back an amendment from mulvaney which would have offset a large portion of the aid with across the board cuts from other spending. >> this amendment is not about day. this amendment is not about offering a poisoned pill to the underlaying bill. we've mismanaged our own finances to the point where we are now no longer capable of

taking care of our own. >> despite those pleas, the mulvaney amendment went down big. 162 to 258 with 71 republicans voting against it. the fiscal cliff and sandy relief votes do provide a template for how, by the way, the debt ceiling might ultimately get raised. on the tax deal, house republican leaders had political cover from senate republicans. on sandy, chris christie provided the political cover, leaving house leaders, frankly, cowering. now the kotch brothers, through a group they backed, called americans for prosperity, are the latest to give boehner and other house leaders cover on the debt ceiling, as they get their rank and file to pick other political fights. tim phillips, president of americans for prosperity, told the financial times, quote, we're saying calibrate your message, focus on long-term spending instead of long-term debt. focusing on the debt ceiling makes the message more difficult. when i asked walden about the debt ceiling yesterday, he was

clearly noncommittal, hinting on where the republican leadership maybe is on this. if there's not a majority in the house republican to raise the debt limit, but there is a majority in the house of representatives to raise a clean debt limit, would this leadership be willing to do that? >> you know, let's look at how do we avoid default on america and american's debt. how do we avoid these issues that are going to bankrupt the country long-term? >> boehner may come under pressure, though, from some conservative groups, but in the latest sign he may have some wiggle room, in a political op-ed this morning, the leaders of the club for growth, heritage action, and the family research counsel called for, quote, insisting that washington not raise the debt ceiling unless our nation gets on a path to a balanced budget within ten years that stays balanced. that is far from a don't raise the debt ceiling ultimatum. boehner has now shown that he's willing to break glass and allow legislation to pass without a majority of the majority. perhaps we've seen the near future in how the republicans end up agreeing to a debt

ceiling raise without a battle. government funding and government shutdown, different story. let's turn back to the big story of the day. and that is the president's push on guns and the coming fight with both congress and the nra. in addition to calling on congress to pass gun control legislation, the president will propose a set of executive actions. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is here to help explain some of those executive actions. a big one that we know he's going to call for is this idea, pete, of basically ordering the justice department to prosecute people that fail background checks. explain why that hasn't been done before, and how it can be done. >> sure, first of all. the federal law makes it a crime for somebody to falsify, knowingly falsify information to their background checks, saying that they're qualified to have a gun when they're not. presumably, most people know when they've been dishonorably discharged from the military, whether they have the felony conviction, whether they have a misdemeanor, domestic violence conviction. whether they're a drug abuser. whether they've been judged mentally defective, any of the

things that would make them unqualified. the fact is, it's a manpower issue. i think one of the things we'll have to watch here is to see whether the administration is interested in beefing up the size of the -- >> some statistics here, divine, what was it, 71,000 people, basically, laid on a background check. failed this background check, and only 44 were pursued. >> were actually prosecuted, that's right. >> 44,000. >> that's right. and this is something the nra has said the administration should do, although it's the nra, of course, is one of the reasons why the atf hasn't grown at the same rate other agencies have. >> we don't know yet on some of the other executive actions he's going to announce. one is his idea of database sharing. so, for instance, i had a person say, jared loughner, the person that -- the gunman in tucson failed a, you know, he tried to get in the military, did not because of a failed drug test. had that information been shared, he might have failed a

background check on guns. >> it's possible. first of all, the rule says the military can't share that information with anyone else, so presumably, the administration could do that by executive action. what the federal law says, that you can't get a gun if you're a drug addict. >> how do you define drug addict? >> drug user. the fact that you failed a drug test some years ago, does that mean that you would be disqualified from ever owning a firearm? probably not, but it's an open question. and if somebody, you know, failed a drug test and then the next day, went out and tried to buy a gun, that might be something that's relevant. >> you've talked with a lot of academics about the former assault weapons ban, what worked and what didn't. i remember you telling me that there was a split between folks that thought the assault weapons ban was not as effective as the ammunition clip ban. >> yes. now, of course, now we're talking about things that would require an act of congress. the president couldn't do by himself. i think there's a widespread feeling that the assault weapons ban that existed for ten years

during the clinton administration was ineffective for this reason. it listed a number of features that if weapons had, they couldn't be sold as assault weapons ban, so manufacturers simply redesigned their guns. >> oh, this is the directions on how to make an assault weapon that doesn't violate the law. >> right, right. they just modified them some. and i think most police chiefs would tell you that it wasn't that effective. they did think that the ban on high-capacity magazines was effective. and there seems to be, once again, broad support for that. now, the people who are drafting the law say this time they're going to be tougher. they're going to do what new york state did yesterday, what california has done, and say, if a weapon has any of these certain features, that it can't be sold. that was be tighter, but i think, again, there are some certain skepticism about whether manufacturers could get around it. >> pete williams, thank you, sir. i know that you'll be listening closely to figure out what does the president actually do today in signing orders and what is he proposing. thank you, sir. up next, the sequestration situation. congress kicked the can down the road, but the new deadline is

approaching fast. can a compromise be reached this time around? democrat jack reed, a member of the senate armed services committee joins me next on that, but also chuck hagel. the haguel haggle. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. the big one just before noon today, where he will roll out what he would like to see in changes to america's gun laws. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] house rule number 46. what's good for the pot... is even better for the cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house. now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card.

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six militants in suicide

vests attacked the intelligence headquarters in kabul this morning. it's exactly the kind of attack afghan officials are concerned about as they try to prepare their army and police for laf after u.s. troops leave. with me now, rhode island democratic senator jack reed, a member of the armed services committee, who's just back from his 14th trip to afghanistan. senator reed, good morning, sir. >> good morning, chuck. >> let me start with the 30,000-foot question on the front of afghanistan. would afghanistan be in a worse -- in worse shape today if it wasn't for the u.s. surge? >> i think they would definitely be in a much more precarious situation. i think the president's strategy, which he outlined at west point, was not only to build up forces to stop the momentum of the taliban and other insurgent groups, but also to clearly indicate that we were going to use the time to transition to afghan leadership and to clearly begin a retrograde of our forces by 2014. so those two together, the buildup with a strategic purpose

of putting the afghans in the lead, were critical, i think, to the success so far. at least the progress, so far. and so, but i concur that without that increase in forces, the momentum would have been more and more in the hands of the taliban. >> will historians look at the war in afghanistan as a u.s. military victory? >> i think what we have here is a situation where the ultimate fate of afghanistan is going to be up to the afghan forces. there are people, governmental leaders in their governmental capacity. the united states has done a great deal. and we've done it not only in the interest of afghanistan, but we've done it also to protect ourselves, by rooting out areas of support and geographic areas of operation, of international terrorist groups, particularly al qaeda. but, clearly, the ultimate test will not be the sole effect of our military forces, but whether the afghans can pick up the burden and shoulder it.

and that's what we're aiming to do now. >> so we won't know, really, if this was effective for decades, you think? >> well, i think it will take time. i think in the short run, we can see a situation in which just two years ago was deterioration, where security was terrible throughout the country, where there was a real danger of the taliban effectively taking over, particularly in the south and kandahar and helmand provinces. that has been reversed. the taliban had a terrible fighting season, because of not only the aggressiveness of u.s. forces, but because of the increased participation in afghan forces. but i think we've seen enough of these types of conflicts to arbitrarily sort of say, you know, well, it's over, it's done. this is going to be a long-term struggle by the afghan people. we have to help them, and when i say we, that's not just the united states. this is an international and nato-led operation.

so it's the international community, and we have to do it in our own self-interest. which means one of the biggest factors here is not to let that state once again be basically a free range operation for terrorist groups internationally. >> the idea of a zero-troop option by the end of 2014, that no u.s. troops would be in afghanistan after 2014, is that realistic? >> i don't think it's particularly realistic, because, first, let's go to our priorities. one is to protect ourselves by having special operations forces available to operate in the whole region. so that requires some forces there. second, we have, i think, a national interest, ourselves, and with our nato allies, to continue to train and sport the afghan sources, so they hold up, not only hold up, but get better and better and better. so there are some practical reasons why we want to stay for our own self-interest. and of course, we want to in the long run, the international community, see at least a stable

afghanistan. >> okay. a couple political questions i want to throw at you. >> surely. >> chuck hagel, looks like he's going to get most democratic support, if not all 55 democrats or the 53 plus the two independents on his side. is he going to find -- are there going to be five republicans or six republicans that support him in order to avoid even the threat of a filibuster? >> i hope so. and i expect so. and that really is a function -- it's not just with respect to chuck hagel, it's with respect to every nominee. this is a one on one process. the senate scrupulously guides their prerogative to closely talk to nominees for cabinet positions to make judgments. that's the case with every nominee. and that's the case with chuck. but he has relationships, he's talked to people on both sides of the aisle, and i think he's going to make a lot of progress, certainly not just on the democratic side, but also on the republican side. >> let me ask you about sequestration, very quickly.

do you think it is -- john boehner's talking about, at the end of the day, let it happen. it would have some big defense cuts. lindsey graham's even saying, it's better than nothing. what do you say? do you think sequestration has to be avoided at all cost, or could it go into effect, forcing some sort of spending cuts and fiscal discipline? >> well, i think we can and we should continue to both reduce expenditures and add revenues in a balanced approach to debt reduction that should take several years. it took several years from 2000, where we had a surplus under president clinton to get to a deficit under president bush. so it will take some time. but i think sequestration is a blunt instrument. it doesn't allow the cabinet secretaries, not just the secretary of defense, but the secretary of every other agency, to make judicious judgments about which programs are higher priority. and we in the congress should be able to make those judgments ourselves, working with the administration. so i don't think it's the right instrument. i think the goal is appropriate,

which is to reduce the deficit, do it in a balanced way, and recognize that there are some things that you can do up-front, quickly. there are some things that are best done, sort of, towards the end of the cycle. and the other factor, too, is we can't forget that one of the best anecdotes to a deficit is a strong, growing economy, particularly growing jobs. and so there are things we have to do to grow jobs. >> i think everybody agrees on the jobs front. anyway, senator jack reed, democrat from rhode island, the senior man when it comes to military affairs in the u.s. senate these days. thank you, sir. >> thank you. up next, the presidential limo gets tagged a political punch. and the second term shuffle continues. another cabinet secretary announces his time for departure. plus, former president bill clinton speaks out on secretary clinton's health and how it could affect any ambitions she might have for 2013. but first, today's trivia question. how many presidents have been inaugurated in an even-numbered

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. this morning, more changes for president obama's cabinet. the white house limos are getting a makeover. but first, interior secretary ken salazar plans to -- has announced that he will depart his cabinet post as interior secretary some time in march. he's been in the cabinet since 2009, after several years as a colorado senator and colorado attorney general, during his time as interior secretary, he has established seven new national parks, ten new wildlife refuges, and oversaw the government's handling of the bp oil spill in the gulf. unclear whether or not salazar has plans for a future run for office in colorado. a lot of democrats hold office now. president obama announced

yesterday that all presidential limousines will be fixed with the d.c. license plate of taxation without recession beginning this weekend to support expanding the district's voice. he said, attaching these plates demonstrates the full representation of the people of the district of columbia and his willingness to fight for voting rights, home rule, and budget autonomy for the district. last week, the d.c. council unanimously passed a resolution, asking president obama to use the plates, and d.c. council members hand-delivered those license plates pictured here to the white house in a step to encourage them to use thm. the plates will remain on presidential vehicles throughout obama's second term. former south carolina governor mark sanford makes it official today, that he's running for congress. sanford made national headlines, of course, when he disappeared for several days, supposedly on the appalachian trail. later admitted it was because he was having an affair in argentina. he's seeking the the seat vacated by tom scott. sanford's ex-wife, jenny, who

governor haley also had on her short list of possible employees, told reporters she would not run for the house seat. here's why. >> the idea of killing myself to run for a seat for the privilege of serving in a dysfunctional body under john boehner whiff an eighth grader at home just really doesn't make sense to me. >> so there you have it. doesn't want to be hanging out with john boehner, okay. next, the president and putin. how significant of a road block will russia be during the president's second term? we're going to do a little deep dive as we've been doing all week on the challenges ahead for the president's second term. today, the focus on foreign policy. and speaking of foreign policy, one of the first american women to fly combat missions in iraq, defeated a tea party incumbent. she's now a member of congress. we're going to meet her. tammy duckworth joins us for our meet the new members series. you're watching "the daily rundown," only onsomeness. that. except it's 2% every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors"

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his second term focused on the debt and the sequester and spending and all of those issues. but he can't afford to be consumed by challenges at home. today a deep dive into those foreign policy challenges that always seem to crop up. historically, second terms tend to be more heavily weighted towards foreign policy, partly because of the president's, quote, lame duck status takes hold more quickly at home than abroad. but also because it provides an opportunity for some presidents to build a legacy. but it's just as likely that national security, not politics, that pushes foreign policy to the fore. top issue going forward continues to be america's role in afghanistan and the drawdown of troops that could begin as early as springtime. so president obama said just last week that the war is far from over. >> what's going to happen this spring is that afghans will be in the lead throughout the country. that doesn't mean that coalition forces, including u.s. forces, are no longer fighting. >> meanwhile, the growing civil war in syria has raised the

specter of a chemical weapons attack. a standoff between iran and israel has raised fears of a nuclear attack. and there's still uncertainty and instability in nations like libya, egypt, and syria in the aftermath or the ongoing parts of the arab spring. interestingly enough, there's a common thread running through a lot of these issues. and that is the complicated relationship between the united states and russia, and specifically the relationship between president obama and now the re-elected president vladimir putin. four years after pledging a reset to relations with the russian president at the time, medvedev, obama's instead dealing with a newly reelected putin, who's shown no inclination to cooperate with the united states agenda. in fact, russia dpgone out of i way to block renewed trade negotiations with north korea. after the last meeting between the two men, president obama tried to focus on the few areas of agreement, like arms control.

>> we agreed that we need to build on these successes. even as we recognize that there are going to be areas of disagreement and that we can find constructive ways to manage through any bilateral tensions. >> i want to focus on this, because i think this foreign policy challenge is the biggest one nobody talks about when it comes to the united states. it's russia. the president's ability to manage these tensions and president putin's willingness to meet him even a quarter of the way, let alone halfway, could end up defining president obama's foreign policy over the next four years. it's a real challenge, folks, and one that doesn't get enough attention. we're going to stick with the foreign policy theme. this week we're meeting one of our new members of congress. today we're talking to tammy duckworth from illinois. she'll lean heavily on her own military credentials and experience to knock off a tea party incumbent, joe walsh. duckworth is one of 16 iraq or afghanistan veterans in the new congress. and one of the first two female combat veterans ever to serve.

she made national headlines when she talked about being wounded in iraq during a speech at the 2008 democratic convention and told the story again in 2012. >> a rocket-propelled grenade hit our helicopter, exploding in my lap, ripping off one leg, crushing the other, and tearing my right arm apart. but i kept trying to fly until i passed out. and in that moment, my survival and the survival of my entire crew depended on all of us pulling together. their heroism is why i'm alive today. >> she lost both legs and part of the use of her arm in the explosion. after her recovery, duckworth was director for the v.a. in illinois before being tapped of president obama's assistant to veterinary affairs. tammy duckworth joins me now.

congratulations. welcome to congress. not welcome to washington, you've been here for four years, serving in the obama administration. but let me ask you about the fact that we've been talking about that the president appointed veterans from wars, war veterans, john kerry, chuck hagel, to his second term cabinet. and yet it is interesting how the diminishing number of combat veterans in the united states congress, you're among the new ones, but believe it or not, there's a diminishing number of those members of congress who have served. how important do you think it is to have more combat veterans serve in the u.s. congress? >> i think it's very important that we have more combat veterans serving in the congress, on both sides of the aisle. i do think that that shared experience will allow us to work with one another and hopefully cooperate. and, you know, one of the things about being in the military, it's all about the mission. it's not about you or your personal ideologies. it's about getting the mission done. so i hope that in this next congress, i will certainly be able to reach out to my fellow iraqs and afghanistan vets, as

well as the previous, those vets from previous eras to get some work done here in washington. >> you know, it's interesting, the vietnam caucus, unofficially, if you will, in the united states senate, was one that was very close-knit and bipartisan. whether it was john kerry or john mccain, they sort of laookd out for each other on some issues. have you guys gotten together as a group in the house, the iraq and afghanistan veterans? have you gotten together? do you get together often, or is it interspersed? >> we have not yet gotten together. i am very much looking forward to it. i have already started talking to a lot of the other vets who are here, including those, who like me, are still serving in the national guard or reserves, talking about last weekend. we had to go home for drill weekend. and we were all rung for the airport, so we could make it home to our states and show up for military duty on the weekend. i also have reached out to members who served in previous era, congressman paul cook, a republican freshman and i, had some great conversations. and he's a combat vet from vietnam.

so i look forward to developing those relationships and using those to get more work done in general for the people of this country. >> i know that domestic issues, spending, that was a big part of your campaign, and you know, joe walsh was the face of the tea party movement, if you will, for some, for good or for bad, whichever side of the aisle folks are on. when you look at the sequester and you hear the debate about whether it should happen or whether it shouldn't, i know nobody likes all of the cuts in it, but do you think it's better to have something than nothing when it comes to domestic cuts and military cuts? >> well, we fleeneed to have cu. that's one of the reasons why i asked to be on government oversight and reform, on that committee. we need to have sensible cuts, but we need to protect the things that are important to us. in my district, what's important to the folks in my district is to protect social security, protect medicare, but also to support manufacturing.

we're a large manufacturing center. one of my towns in my district is the largest manufacturing areas outside of the city of chicago. so we need to support our small business owners as well. sensible cuts, but also making sure that we protect those issues that are of priority to us. >> let me ask you about the gun initiatives that president obama's going to be rolling out. you hear this a lot of times, and i'm curious what your reaction to it is. you can't have these military-style assault weapons be legal for the public. when you hear that, do you think it's going to be easy to be able to, for you to be able to say, hey, this is a way -- this is what i'm talking about when i say military-style weapons shouldn't be on the streets. >> well, you know, i think this is why it's good to have some military vets here in congress. i come from a family of marksmen. both my dad, who is now passed, and brothers, are life members of the nra. i am not a part of the nra. but we need sensible gun control

laws. we need background checks. we need to make sure that we don't have weapons that can, you know, kill a large number of people in just a few seconds. but we also need to make sure that our marksmen, like myself, have access to, you know, the guns that they're going to use and go target practice. there's a fine line. we just have to be calm about it. and ratcheting up the debate is not going to help anyone. you can do target practice with rifles without needing an m-16 to do it. so let's have a sensible conversation. and i think those military veterans that are here can talk in greater detail about weapons and their function and what is and what isn't an assault weapon. >> okay. i think you have a big challenge on your hands if you're hoping for a calm debate when it comes to guns in the u.s. congress. >> i'll do my best. >> but here's hoping you're right. congresswoman tammy duckworth, welcome to congress and thanks for coming on this morning. >> thank you so much for having me. all right. up next, the president's sweeping attempt at gun reform. and bill clinton's attempt to sweep away hillary clinton's

health problems. the hump day gaggle joins me next. but first, white house soup of the day, it's chicken noodle. i'll be honest, i think a lot of us could use some chicken noodle with the way this flu is beating us all up. i don't have the flu, i don't think. don't forget to check out our website, rundown.msnbc.com. we'll be right back.

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yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. just about two hours from now, president obama will unveil his proposed package on gun control. opponents, though, already promising a tough political fight. let's bring in our wednesday gaggle here, from "the washington post," david nakamura, kim al nonno, and marji o'mara. kim, i want to start with you. >> of course you do. >> we have this nra web ad and i guess it's a tv ad on one channel, if you plp you're a republican admaker. would you have advised the nra to put an add out like this right now at any point? >> it's a joke.

it is a joke. i mean, it astounds me, our ability to take issues where we have some footing and turn them into humorous -- not even humorous, just, just blow it. i mean, the communication behind that is the wrong direction and i think he needs to hire new people, they knead to hire new people. it's a joke. >> margie, the nra's whole messaging on this, and first of all, i was stunned they'd decided to speak. these whole big gun things, they've always stuck their head in the sand and over time, it will pass. they chose not to, which made you think, huh, this one is different, but how they responded, i can't figure out the political strategy. >> they're calling attention to the fact of what we've known to be true for a while, that the nra leadership does not share the view of gun owners or americans. gun owners and nra members want to keep guns out of dangerous hands. and when the nra acts like they

have with these press conferences and then that horrible ad, which clearly had no women at the table when they were making it, they weren't thing about aiming it toward women, they weren't thinking about bringing swing voters or anybody, really, into the fold, no wonder that polls show that their favorability is dropping. it's a problem for them. >> and david, they've not, sure how to respond. they've acted more like a partisan conservative ideological organization, rather than what they had become, which was this sort of status, lake apec has this status, sort of above, because they have reached into both parties. >> what's interesting, they claim they've had 100,000 new members based -- since they came out and talked. >> i wonder how people dropped membership, though. they've been very careful how they've worded -- >> that's true. but it struck me, that add, everybody was talking about it very quickly. it offended people that they talked about the president's

daughters and things like that in the ad. but at the same time, there is a sense that the publicity for them is not necessarily a bad thing. that, you know, they don't believe that a lot of people around the country believe everything that people in washington believe. >> no, and wayne la pierre had a fund-raising e-mail out. >> but that says they had some agreement on -- >> but a more positive ad. >> even when they chest butted the american people, they could have gotten some progress on what they wanted had they done it the right way. >> they're making it very easy for republicans in moderate areas or democrats in conservative areas to say, i want to find middle the ground on this. and the nra no longer seems -- is no longer acting like it's trying to represent middle ground. >> david, i'm told that watch what the president -- one thing he may not lean as heavily in is

on the assault weapons ban, because that's the most polarizing of his congressional proposals. the background check is the least polarizing. >> the background check, closing the one. 88% i think favorable in the poll. but they are going to -- i think the white house is going to talk about armed guards in schools. they will probably include a little funding for that. >> for security, not necessarily armed guards. stick around. wait until you see this bill clinton video. it would be what we are all talking about today if it wasn't for the important story of guns. we asked how many presidents have been inaugurated in even numbered years? the answer is two. both were unplanned inaugurations. fillmore in 1850 and gerald ford became president in 1974 after nixon resigned. every other president has been inaugurated in an odd numbered year. if you have a political trivia question for us, e-mail us. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] when ziggy the cat appeared at their door,

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she's always been very, very healthy and she has very low blood pressure, very low standing heart rate. i tell her she's still got time to have three more husbands after me. my advice is that she should rest up and decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life, and whether she thinks this is the right thing for her and for america and for the world, it's the right thing and if she does, she should do it and if she doesn't, she shouldn't. >> david, that's president bill clinton on his wife's health. probably the most extensive we have heard on any of this from any member of the clinton family. bill clinton, he wasn't as -- it's interesting, you heard him

before saying oh, i can't wait for her to run. i didn't read that in that. >> yeah. well, i think also, i think he made some more comments about we've had a good full life and things like that. so you wonder if he's getting more reflective in his age. he was at the golden globes the other day, he likes to be in the spotlight, i think he would favor a run. i don't think we can read too much into that. >> i agree. talk about him having a little fun, really trying to make sure nobody jumps to conclusions on health. >> absolutely. this happens to all of us when you're in the middle of a health event, you're speaking the language of doctors and of what you just went through. i think that's what this is. this is just a husband talking about his wife. even if it is the clintons. >> it is always the clintons. >> my bet is she doesn't run. >> shameless plug, kim? >> christine matthews and i, the pollster, think reform is the answer for the republican party. >> the latest ad by mayors

against illegal guns is at demand a plan.org and done by my husband, julian. >> david? >> the "post" is coming out with a special section about the inauguration looking back at the president's four years. >> read the local paper. >> wedge it in before the debt ceiling. >> washington's big event. read the local paper. tomorrow on the show, freshman congressman patrick murphy and general stanley mcchrystal will be here. next, chris jansing. what's next?

he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions